The “unfortunate” restoration of St George at the Romanesque church of San Miguel de Estella was conducted without consultation, according to the town’s mayor Koldo Leoz. An arts-and-crafts workshop company called Karmacolor undertook the work at the behest of the local priest, apparently then handing the job to the local teacher.

The ‘restored’ sculpture: this is a what was left after a Spanish priest asked a local school teacher to restore a priceless 16th-century statue of St George and the dragon

“The restoration project should have been presented to the authorities and dependent on their agreement,” Mr Leoz said.

The carving has been given a new paint job in bold colours, attracting comparisons with Walt Disney characters and Playmobil box sets in online memes.

Spain’s art restoration bosses are now considering what action to take.

The Ecce Homo fresco of Jesus Christ in Borja, seen before and after the amateur restoration in 2012 CREDIT: REUTERS

The Spanish Conservationists and Restorers Association (ACRE) said the botched job showed “an alarming lack of the required training to undertake this kind of intervention”.

ACRE says it has contacted prosecutors in case the restoration fail could constitute “a crime for damage against objects of cultural and historical value”.

The sculpture in Estella, Navarre, before the restoration CREDIT: CEN/TWITTER

Carlos Martínez Álava, the director of Navarre’s heritage department, said his team was now investigating to see if it was possible to “derestore” the carving. Ironically, Mr Martínez Álava said the Saint George had been in good condition before the restoration, “although somewhat dirty”.

But Estella could draw some hope from its artistic shame: Borja and the amateur restorer behind the Ecce Homo notoriety, Cecilia Giménez, have cashed in on what at first glance appeared to be a disastrous assault on the town’s heritage.

Borja now boasts a special museum for tourists anxious to see first-hand the blurry lines of Giménez’s ‘Ecce Homo’, and there has even been an opera about the 2012 debacle.